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Four of the applicants in the just cancelled immigration recruitment exercise, on behalf of themselves and others who participated, have filed a suit against the federal government, seeking among others, a refund of their application fees.

They also asked the court to declare that the conduct or the execution of the recruitment exercise was illegal, unwarranted and in violation of the their fundamental rights to life.

The plaintiffs, who filed the suit at the registry of the court, brought the application under Sections 33,34, and 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the equivalent articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right.

Also joined as respondents in the suit were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, the NIS and its Comptroller General, David Shikfu Parradang.

The applicants, Charles Ugwuonye, Friday Danlami, Chinedu Onwuka and Samson Ojo through their counsel, Emeka Ugwuonye, among other things want the court to declare the recruitment exercise illegal and restrain the NIS from spending the money realised from the recruitment exercise.

They also want the court to order the respondents to refund the recruitment money back to the applicants, pay the sum of N1million to each applicant and N50million to deceased applicants as general damages.

They also want the court to declare that the conduct or the execution of the recruitment exercise is illegal, unwarranted and in violation of the applicants’ fundamental rights to life, right to protection from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to dignity of the human person, right against discrimination on the basis of the circumstances of birth and right against unlawful taking of the property of a person; under Sections 33, 34, 42 and 44 of the Constitution (as amended), and the equivalent Articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

They also want the court to declare that the respondents, particularly the Minister of Interior and Comptroller General of the NIS owed a duty of honesty and candor to them regarding the true purpose and intention behind the exercise.

The court was also asked to declare that the respondents, particularly the Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS have a duty to superintend the recruitment exercise in a safe and healthy manner with due consideration to lives and wellbeing of those who applied for or participated in the exercise.

The applicants further want an order declaring that the NIS 2014 recruitment exercise was carried out in a manner that was motivated by greed and corrupt intentions and without any realistic plan to offer the applicants employments.

Also they want an order declaring that the respondents do not have the power to appropriate any funds raised by them from the recruitment exercise but must remit such funds to the Federation Account.

In addition, the applicants want the court to make an order directing the respondents to issue a written apology to them.

The apology should be published in five Nigerian newspapers and on the main website of the NIS.